Flying Insect Repelling Hat

ABSTRACT

Here is disclosed a hat having a crown and a brim, the brim having a peripheral edge, a front portion a back portion, and opposite left and right side portions. Left, right, front and back electric fans are positioned on the brim adjacent the peripheral edge. The left, right, front and back electric fans are each configured to blow air downwardly away from the crown at a rate of at least 10 cfm. The left, right, front and back electric fans are positioned 90° from each other on the brim. The device further includes a control unit mounted in the hat and operatively coupled to the left, right, front and back electric fans for driving the fans, the control unit having at least one storage battery. Finally, the device includes a switch coupled to the control unit for turning the fans on and off.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to devices for repelling insects whichcan be worn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flying insects such as mosquitoes and black flies often make outdooractivities such as camping, hiking, hunting, gardening, surveying orfishing difficult to bear. The constant buzzing and biting of theseflying insects is both annoying and distracting and, where there is thethreat of west nile virus, it can also be a health hazard. In order tolessen the problem posed by mosquitoes and black flies, various productshave been introduced. One such product is DEET(N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) which is an oily liquid which can beapplied directly to the skin. The deet, when applied evenly to theuser's skin, is actually quite effective in preventing mosquitoes andblack flies from biting; however, any patch of skin which is not coveredby deet will be exposed and prone to being bitten. Unfortunately, deetcan be very irritating for some people, particularly if it gets in theeyes. Furthermore, deet feels slippery and oily when applied to the skinand has an unpleasant odor. As a result, people are reluctant to usedeet, particularly on the face and head.

Wearable mosquito repelling devices have been introduced into themarket. Fabric screen netting has been used for decades to separateindividuals from biting flying insects. In order to protect the face andneck, special hats have been made which incorporate fabric screens.However, hats with fabric screen insect guards are often uncomfortableto wear and also interfere with the wearer's vision. Recently, clip onchemical insect repellent devices have been introduced. These devicesgenerally consist of a wearable container which releases an aerosolproduct (such as citronella) which helps to repel mosquitoes and blackflies. These insect repelling devices are very convenient to use,requiring only that the device be activated and then attached to anarticle of clothing. While these devices can be partially effective fora short period of time under ideal conditions, in real worldapplications the aerosol repellents tend to drift away and the deviceloses its effectiveness. Furthermore, the insect repellent in these clipon devices has to be replenished every four hours, making them expensiveto operate. Also, clip on chemical based insect repellents are generallynot suitable for use by small children. Therefore, what is required is adevice which is both convenient to use, but yet effective against flyinginsects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a device for repelling flying insects when worn on a user'shead. The device consists of a hat having a crown and a brim, the brimhaving a front portion a back portion, and opposite left and right sideportions, the brim having a circumscribing peripheral edge. Left andright electric fans are positioned on the left and right portions of thebrim adjacent the peripheral edge. Front and back electric fans arepositioned on the front and back portions of the brim adjacent theperipheral edge. The left, right, front and back electric fans are eachconfigured to blow air downwardly away from the crown at a rate of atleast 10 cfm. The left, right, front and back electric fans arepositioned 90° from each other on the brim. The device further includesa control unit mounted in the hat and operatively coupled to the left,right, front and back electric fans for driving the fans, the controlunit having at least one storage battery. Finally, the device includes aswitch coupled to the control unit for turning the fans on and off.

With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparentto those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as thisspecification proceeds, the invention is herein described by referenceto the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes adescription of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flying insect repelling hat made inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the flying insect repelling hat shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the flying insect repelling hat shown in FIG.1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1, a flying insect repelling hat made in accordancewith the present invention is shown generally as item 10 and consists ofa hat having a brim 12 and a crown 14. Brim 12 has a circumscribingperipheral rim 16 which extends along the entire brim. Brim 12 has frontportion 18, left side portion 20, right side portion 22 and back portion24. A length of cord forms an adjustable chin strap 26 for securing thehat on the user's head. A plurality of electric fans 30, 32, 34 and 36(see FIG. 2) are provided on the brim and positioned adjacent rim 16. Aphotovoltaic cell 28 may be provided on a top surface of the hat,preferably on the top of crown 14.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, electric fans 30, 32, 34 and 36 arepositioned 90° to each other on the brim such that fans 32 and 34 arepositioned over the wearer's ears (not shown) when the hat is worn. Whenworn, fan 30 would be positioned above the wearer's face and fan 36would be positioned over the wearer's neck. Each electric fan is coupledto a control unit 40 which is located in a pocket 50 formed on underside38 of the hat's crown. Control unit 40 includes a motor controller 42and electric batteries 44. An opening 48 is formed in pocket 50 topermit access to control unit 40. Opening 48 may have hook and loopfasteners to permit the opening to be readily opened or closed to gainaccess to the control unit. Control unit 40 is coupled to a switch 46which is used to turn the electric fans on or off. Photovoltaic cell 28is coupled to control unit 40 to help recharge storage batteries 44.Since the hat is likely to be worn while outside, it is likely thephotovoltaic cell can provide sufficient electrical energy to at leastpartially recharge the storage batteries. Of course, at night, thebatteries can be easily replaced if they are drained.

Electric fans 30, 32, 34 and 36 comprise high powered electric fanscapable of blowing air in a downward orientation towards the wearer. Theelectric fans used for CPU cooling in desktop computers are quitesuitable for use in the present application. The fans must be capable ofblowing air at a rate of at least 10 cfm, which has been discovered tobe the minimum required for repelling insects. Fans 32 and 34 positionedabove the user's ears, and when the fans are activated, air is forceddown over the side's of the user's head and ears. If the air is blowingfrom fans 32 and 34 at a rate of 10 cfm, then mosquitoes and black flieswill literally be blown away from the left and right sides of thewearer's head. Likewise, when fans 30 and 36 are activated, the airblowing over the face and neck regions of the head prevent mosquitoesand black flies from biting the wearer on the face and neck.

It has been discovered that fans configured to blow at a rate of atleast 10 cfm provide very effective protection against biting insectssuch as mosquitoes and black flies. At a continuous rate of 10 cfm, thefans produce a constant downward stream of air protecting the wearer'sentire head. However, rates of greater than 15 cfm do not provide anyadditional protection. While it is true that the constant downwardstream of air can be maintained with higher flow rates, it has beendiscovered that there is no greater protection offered when the fansblow at a rate exceeding 15 cfm. The disruption of the downward airstream from the fans can result from cross winds or rapid forwardmovement (as in jogging or running); however, it has been discoveredthat the effects of wind (either natural or induced from rapid forwardmovement) also acts to drive mosquitoes and black flies away. As aresult, there is little practical benefit in driving the fans at greaterthan about 15 cfm. Therefore, motor controller 42 is preferablyconfigured to keep the fans spinning at a rate sufficient to keep theairflow from each fan in the range of between 10 to 15 cfm. This ensureadequate protection while preserving battery life.

Crown 14 and brim 12 are preferably treated to be water proof or atleast water resistant. Brim 12 is preferably made of a relatively stiffyet pliable material such as reinforced canvas or nylon. Preferably, thebrim is made sufficiently pliable and stiff so that it can be bent intoa desired angle and hold that angle indefinitely until forced intoanother angle. This allows the user to bend the brim of the hat into aconfiguration which best suits the wearer and positions the fans asrequired. This allows the hat to be worn so that the orientation of thefans can be finely tuned to direct their respective air flows formaximum protection of the head. A canvas covered plastic foam corematerial is particularly well suited.

The invention has several advantages over the prior art. Firstly, thedevice provides effective insect protection without the need for deet orother chemicals. Since deet is no longer required, the device is idealfor use by children or other people who are sensitive to deet. Since thedevice does not use nets or veils, the device is more comfortable towear and does not interfere with the wearer's vision. Since the deviceis worn as a hat, the wearer can still easily access the face and neckwithout the need for removing a veil or net, making it easier to eat anddrink while wearing the device.

A specific embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed;however, several variations of the disclosed embodiment could beenvisioned as within the scope of this invention. It is to be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to the embodiments describedabove, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of thefollowing claims

Therefore, what is claimed is:
 1. A device for repelling flying insectswhen worn on a user's head, the device comprising: a. A hat having acrown and a brim, the brim having a front portion a back portion, andopposite left and right side portions, the brim having a circumscribingperipheral edge; b. Left and right electric fans positioned on the leftand right portions of the brim adjacent the peripheral edge; c. Frontand back electric fans positioned on the front and back portions of thebrim adjacent the peripheral edge; d. The left, right, front and backelectric fans each being configured to blow air downwardly away from thecrown at a rate of at least 10 cfm; e. The left, right, front and backelectric fans being positioned 90° from each other on the brim; f. Acontrol unit mounted in the hat and operatively coupled to the left,right, front and back electric fans for driving the fans, the controlunit having at least one storage battery; g. A switch coupled to thecontrol unit for turning the fans on and off.
 2. The device of claim 1further comprising a photovoltaic solar cell mounted on the hat, thephotovoltaic solar cell coupled to the control unit, the control unitconfigured to recharge the storage battery from the photovoltaic solarcell.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the control unit is mountedwithin a pocket formed in an underside of the crown, the pocket havingan opening dimensioned to permit access to the storage battery of thecontrol unit.
 4. The device of claim 3 further comprising a photovoltaicsolar cell mounted on the hat, the photovoltaic solar cell coupled tothe control unit, the control unit configured to recharge the storagebattery from the photovoltaic solar cell.
 5. The device of claim 1wherein the brim is configured to be sufficiently pliable to be bentinto a plurality of angles, the brim being further configured to besufficiently stiff so that the brim will remain at that angle after itis bent.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the control unit includes amotor controller for controlling the supply of electric power to each ofthe fans, the motor controller configured to keep each of the fansblowing at a rate of no less than 10 cfm to no more than 15 cfm.